


Ezra's Broken Heart

by MrsDvlDg



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 20:41:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18431702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsDvlDg/pseuds/MrsDvlDg
Summary: When I was reading Starwinder's Broken Hearts story, a line in chapter two had me wondering: what did Ezra mean when he said that he came home from the Keplar case and discovered there was nothing to come back to?  This story came out of that musing.  Thank you, Starwinder, for allowing me to play in your sandbox.  *grin*





	Ezra's Broken Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Even though this is a prequel of sorts to Broken Hearts, I recommend reading that story first. Otherwise, be warned that there are mild spoilers in this story.

###  Ezra's Broken Heart

**Early February - Thursday afternoon, Team Seven Office**

 

“No, Mr. Larabee. I won't be there this weekend. I have plans,” Ezra kept his refusal short, gearing up for an argument anyway. His boss sometimes didn't seem to accept that his agents had private lives away from the office.

 

The other shocked conversations around him stopped short. Ezra snorted inside his head.

 

*I guess finding out that two of your teammates have been sleeping together and that they are moving in together is less shocking than me telling Chris “no.” I'm actually surprised it's taken Chris this long to put his foot down and move Vin out to the ranch. I expected _that_ to happen right after the Latimer case concluded.*

 

“Ezra, you **will** be there. We're meeting at Vin's apartment and moving him out to the ranch first thing Saturday morning. All hands on deck.”

 

“I will say again, no. I already have plans for the whole weekend which cannot be changed as on Monday, I go undercover for the Keplar case.”

 

As Chris's eyes narrowed, Ezra stood up and walked to the door.

 

“It's four o'clock on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Larabee. I must get down to Surveillance to collect my wired pieces so that tomorrow JD can get them connected to our computers. I will see you in the morning.” And at that, Ezra walked out of the office, leaving behind six men wondering what unbreakable plans their undercover agent could have for the weekend.

 

“Well, he didn' pinch the bridge a' his nose, so's his mother's not in town,” Vin drawled.

 

“What?” came from several directions.

 

“Y'all haven' noticed that ever'time Maude shows up tha' he pinches his nose?” Vin asked, demonstrating Ezra's classic sign of annoyance.

 

Heads shook negatively, while understanding slowly dawned in their eyes. Leave it to their observant sniper to notice one of the few tells that Ezra possessed.

 

“So's whatever he's doing, it's bound to be somethin' he enjoys. Let 'im have his weekend, Cowboy.”

 

Chris nodded, although his eyes remained hard and annoyed.

 

7*7*7*7*7*7*7

 

**Friday evening, Ezra's condo**

 

Ezra placed two artfully plated pasta dishes on his dining room table, smirking that no one would think they were ordered from a restaurant. No one that is except his date who had picked them up on his way to Ezra's condo.

 

“Dinner is ready, Mel. Let's partake in the wonderful meal you picked up.”

 

He smiled at his guest, a tall man with dark brown hair and muddy hazel eyes, as sharply dressed as Ezra was at the office. Mel smiled at Ezra as they sat down at the table.

 

“Ezra, I wanted to do something special tonight because we need to have a talk.”

 

Ezra's fork froze halfway to his mouth.

 

“Now, it's not a bad talk, Angel. We've been dating for six months, not counting the weeks you've been undercover. And you still won't introduce me to your friends. Ezra, I'm trying to be understanding, but I don't want to be hidden.”

 

“Mel, I have associates, not friends. I work with those men. The time I spend with them out of work is to build our teamwork. We are in dangerous careers. Our safety is provided with our connection and trust.”

 

“Ezra, I know. You've told me this over and over. Angel, I'm not jealous of your teammates. I just don't want to be your dirty little secret.”

 

A look of shocked horror crossed Ezra's face.

 

“Mel!? How could you conceive that I would consider you in that manner?”

 

“Well, you said that your boss is moving your team's sniper into his ranch this weekend, and instead of asking me to help, you refused to help at all. I wouldn't have minded.”

 

“I didn't want to spend our weekend moving furniture. I will be under for at least two weeks this time and will miss Valentine's Day. I wanted this weekend for us.”

 

“But we're not doing anything different. This is normal routine for us: I pick up our supper on my way in; we spend all weekend in your condo; we take turns cooking until I leave Sunday afternoon. Why do you never want to go out in public, Angel? What are you hiding if it's not me?”

 

Ezra was silent as he ate. He wished he had the words to explain to Mel how little he trusted the outside world. Training had kept him alive when so many others had lost their lives. His time in Atlanta had taught him that life was easier if he kept it compartmentalized. He knew that if he and Mel were to ever move in together that he would have to share the dark parts of his story with his boyfriend, but until they were to that point, Ezra feared it would just drive the man away. Finally he decided to try again to help his lover understand why he wouldn't bring Mel around Team 7, without opening a Pandora's box of bitter memories.

 

“Mel, I don't mix my business and private lives, ever. It's dangerous to be a gay cop. Even if the rest of the team was fine with my choices, I'd still potentially be at risk from not having backup from other teams. My relationship with you is my private life. I love you, and I want to be able to keep coming home to you.”

 

“Fine. Don't introduce me to those you spend the most time with on a daily basis. But must we always eat here? I'd like to go out with you.”

 

“I'll think about it, Mel. Honestly, I will think about it. I have a hard time thinking about sharing my time with you with the general public. Between you working every other Saturday and my job requiring me to go undercover, I covet our time together. Now, may we have a quiet, romantic weekend together? You said you wanted special, and I did plan to do things a little different. I don't want to fight with you. I want the memories from this weekend to hold onto when I go undercover on Monday.”

 

Mel nodded and changed to subject to a new book he was reading. It was a travesty that it wasn't on the New York Times best seller list yet. Ezra thought that the topic of meeting his teammates was settled. He smiled at his boyfriend and was so distracted with the thoughts of how romantic the weekend would be for them that he failed to notice that Mel's smiles never reached his eyes.

 

7*7*7*7*7*7*7

 

**Monday morning, Team 7 Office**

 

“Ezra get in with Keplar alright?” Josiah asked Chris about mid morning.

 

“Yeah,” came the brusque reply.

 

“Still wondering if sending Buck as the bodyguard was a good idea?”

 

Chris sighed. “I know Vin usually does guard duty, but he just moved in. Buck is solid and said he needed time to wrap his head around my 'new' relationship anyway. I don't understand why he's being so prickly about this.”

 

Josiah nodded. Although, to be honest, Buck wasn't the only one on the team reeling and needing time. Even being told that Chris and Vin had been dating since right before the Latimer case was a shock. Chris choosing to announce their relationship as a request to help move Vin's stuff out to the ranch was not the best way tell the team. Buck had gotten indignant about Vin's move and requested to be assigned as Ezra's bodyguard for this case right after Ezra had left the office on Thursday. Friday had been very tense in the office, and the tension didn't ease up while they were moving things until Buck left to pick up his Saturday date. Josiah hoped that the next few months would give everyone enough time to wrap their heads around the fact that their agent in charge and their sniper were a couple. After all, in Josiah's opinion, men shouldn't date other men, and office romances never worked out.

 

7*7*7*7*7*7*7

 

**3 weeks later, Ezra's condo**

 

Ezra unlocked his condo with a weary sigh. Three weeks had felt like an eternity, with the last week feeling like time kept freezing. Buck had spent all of their time away from their suspects being snarky about Chris's and Vin's relationship. He had stayed silent and let the words flow over him. Buck's attitude did help him decide that he was never introducing Mel to Team 7. He couldn't see the other four men accepting another gay man on the team. However, he had decided that he was willing to start exploring the possibilities of going out in public with Mel, maybe allowing the man to see what he liked to do for fun: yard sales, flea markets, and thrift shops. His teammates seemed to think he only spent time at the high class part of Denver. Since none of them wanted to move in those circles and Mel did like the finer things in dining and entertainment, Ezra was willing to take the chance of being spotted. After all, relationships should be about compromising.

 

He had just taken off his shoes when there was a knock on his front door. After checking who was there, Ezra smiled. He had called in an order to Black Jack's as he left work. He opened the door to let his supper in. The timing of the delivery was perfect.

 

“Benjamin! Good to see you. I take it that Jack has you on delivery duty tonight?”

 

“Yeah, Daniel has a night class on Mondays this semester. Dad says to eat up as you're still too skinny.”

 

Ezra laughed as he paid for his BBQ supper and added a large tip for Benjamin, knowing he'd split it with his brother. He'd have to go shopping tomorrow before Mel came over, unless he worked up the courage to take him to a restaurant uptown. That actually sounded like a good idea, a way to actually show Mel that he was serious about the relationship. He dug into his meal, thankful that he could eat real food again. Between the stress of being undercover and the constantly “snobby food” (as Vin once called their meals while undercover), Ezra always lost weight while on assignment. Being under with Vin eased the stress as the sniper was sensitive to his moods. Buck's loyalty, though steadfast, did not come with emotional sensitivity. Ezra laughed to himself.

 

*Probably why he's completely unaware of his feelings for Chris.*

 

After placing the leftovers in the refrigerator, Ezra picked up his phone. He decided to ask Mel out for dinner tomorrow night, at a restaurant of Mel's choosing. He listened to the line ring until Mel's voicemail picked up. He left a message, both apologizing for his time undercover being a week longer than expected and inviting Mel to pick a restaurant for them to reconnect their relationship at tomorrow night. Having reached Mel's voicemail reminded Ezra that he still had not check his own messages.

 

Fifteen minutes later, Ezra's world crashed down around him. He wished he had remembered to check them when he had arrived home, at the very least before making that phone call.

 

_“Ezra, I know that your work can be unpredictable. But, Angel, I can't live like this. You're a week overdue and I can't call anyone to see if you're okay or if you've been killed in the line of duty. You never asked me why I wanted to get to know your coworkers. You just shut me down every time.”_ There was a heavy sigh before Mel continued. _“I told you I couldn't live like your dirty little secret. I'm sorry to have to tell you this on your voicemail, but I've met someone new. He's already taken me to the theater and out to dinner. He was willing to be seen with me, in PUBLIC, on Valentine's Day. I'm telling you this on your voicemail, because I refuse to feel like I'm cheating on you. If you do come home, call me and I'll pick up the few things I left in your bathroom. Bye.”_

 

Ezra didn't delete or save the message. He simply hung up his phone and stared at the wall. He had pushed hard to get through this assignment because he wanted to get home to Mel and now there was no Mel to come home to. Standing robotically, Ezra walked over to the hallway leading to his patio. He picked up the baseball bat next to the shelf and selected some breakable objects whose last days had now arrived. He took them outside. Shards flew as the bat connected with the ugly collectibles he kept for this reason as tears fell from lonely green eyes. It wasn't until the tears rolled into a small cut that he'd realized he'd forgotten to be aware of tiny flying porcelain projectiles. With the hurt and anger temporarily relieved, Ezra bandaged the small cuts and called Mel again. He left a second message telling Mel that his bathroom stuff would be hanging on the front door in a bag. Best way to avoid the temptation of losing his temper and hitting his ex.

 

7*7*7*7*7*7*7

 

**Next morning, Team 7 Office**

 

Vin looked at Ezra as he entered the office, late as usual. The undercover agent was dressed as impeccably as normal. His eyes drifted to two small band-aids, one on Ezra's left cheek and the other near the center of his neck, right under his chin.

 

“Ez, what happened?”

 

“I cut myself while shaving. I was running a bit late and forgot that I was using a razor and not electric shaver. I was trying to avoid Mr. Larabee's wrath on my first day back in the office.”

 

Vin nodded, appearing to accept Ezra's explanation, but he noted that the other man's eyes looked a bit puffy, like he'd spent several hours crying. He wished Ezra would talk to him, be willing to confide the truth to him, because there was no way those wounds were due to shaving. But until Ezra was ready, Vin would just wait for the truth.

 

“Mr. Tanner, would you be willing to deliver a message for me?”

 

“Um... depends on what it is, Ez.”

 

“My weekend plans have been canceled so I will be making it to the poker game at Mr. Larabee's ranch on Saturday. I'd tell him myself but the first day back takes forever with turning in equipment.”

 

“Sure. Be glad to. Sorry your plans didn't work out.”

 

“As am I, Mr. Tanner. As am I.”

 

With that, Ezra walked out of the office and headed down to the surveillance department. He kept thinking about the understanding and acceptance in Vin's eyes, as though he'd known Ezra was lying and would be ready to listen if he ever wanted to come clean. Maybe, just maybe, he could have friends as well as teammates. The thought eased a tiny bit of the heartache he was feeling. Maybe someday, he could return the simple understanding given by Mr. Tanner to him and let the man into a place where few ever got a glimpse of.

 

The End

 


End file.
